Always
by ShadowBeard
Summary: Adventures of Lady Bug and Cat Noir continue, despite the challenges becoming more and more violent. There is no clear explanation as to why, but the heroes of Paris are determined to uncover the mystery. However, is Hawk Moth to be blamed for all evil that they encounter? A true villain surges from the shadows, stronger than Hawk Moth and possibly Lady Bug and Cat Noir.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Rainey's brutal attacks!

~Cat Noir~

He swiveled to his left, yet he did not find her. His body shook in anxiety and breathed heavily. His emerald eyes took sight of the dark butterfly. He crouched low and relied on the dark night to hide his presence. He followed it silently through the dark woods, relying on his sight and sense of smell. His labored breathing lessened as he focused on his target. The dark butterfly fluttered away to someone sitting on a tree stump. His eyes widened as he recognized the proper way the person sat and how neatly the bun on her head was. Just like that, darkness overcame her.

A silent ping on his staff told him she was contacting him. He looked over to see her dazzling eyes sharp with seriousness. She asked him where he was and he gave her the location. In no time, she swung by the branches with her yo-yo. She settled down next to him. Unlike him, she did not pant out of breath. She seemed as focused as always.

"So, she's the new target of Hawk Moth?"

"It would appear so. I followed the akuma to her." He answered.

"I think I've seen this woman before. Somewhere in school…" she pondered, scratching her head absentmindedly. Then something went off in her head, and she remembered. She was the woman in glasses that worked for Adrien's father. She looked at Cat Noir and sighed heavily.

"I remember where I saw her from." She mentioned to him, in a whisper.

"You do? From where?"

"You remember that boy, Adrien, that we had to watch out for a couple of times? During his birthday, the Bubbler showed up, remember?"

"Huh, yeah. I remember the guy. Handsome fella."

"Well, his father has this assistant and I think that's her. Her name is Nathalie or something." She looked at where the woman had stood up. Her bun was suddenly undone. Her hair flowed in waves to her waist and seemed to take a blue hue. Her usual organized clothing was transformed into a swirly blue dress. In one of her hands, she clutched a doll covered in white cloth, with markings on its face and a rope tied to its neck. She slowly turned and looked directly at both of them.

While it would be hard to look at them at night, Lady Bug wore red and black which made her stand out. Immediately, Lady Bug jumped upwards to a branch, while Cat Noir flattened himself to the floor, instinctively. There was something about her eyes that was bothering him. It was as if she had suddenly become mad and depressed at the same time. Her neck tilted, she swung her head to her left and widened her eyes. Seconds passed and nothing happened. After a couple of more seconds, Cat Noir heard it. The sound of gushing water flowing continuously from somewhere.

"Cat Noir!" Lady Bug yelled.

"Get his miraculous Rainey!" the voice of Hawk Moth resonated inside Rainey's head. She reached to fetch the hand of the black cat, but he had jumped to tree branch. Just like that, water flowed throughout the forest. However, it did not touch her. The water avoided touching her, and was violent to everything and everyone else.

"Whoa, that was a close one. What's the plan milady?" He looked at her, as he always did.

~Lady Bug~

She shook her head in frustration. Then she looked at the woman below them. She furrowed her eyebrows as she tried to come up with a plan of some sort. Before she devised it, the woman looked up to the sky and raised a hand. Rain poured heavily on them. Both shut their eyes as the brutal assault of the water beat on their bodies. It only got more and more violent.

 _Damn, Hawk Moth is creating more and more violent villains_ , Lady Bug thought. She cracked her eyelids opened for a fraction and looked at Cat Noir. It was obvious he was struggling to stay still in the branch. It was only a question of time before either would fall to the raging waters below them and get caught by the akumatized Nathalie.

Suddenly, darkness overcame her. It was cold, and there was warmth. She didn't understand what was happening. There were no screams, no anger and no pain. She was thrust into an unknown world. The last thing she remembered was whispering, "Cat Noir…"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Beware the Shadows!

~Lady Bug~

She opened her eyes and the brightness of the light tormented her. She quickly shut her eyes and concentrated on breathing slowly. Something had happened. She couldn't quite understand what though. There wasn't much to be heard, but there was purity in the air itself, so in a big city she was not in. She felt for her hands and encountered wet leaves. Opening her eyes, she found herself positioned in the biggest and thickest tree she had ever seen. Yet, she was still damp. She looked over to find Cat Noir in the same way but opposite side of the tree. She shook her head and tried to find her footing, while rising herself from the awkward position she woke up in.

Crack.

 _Urgh, there went my back_ , thought Lady Bug tiredly. The more she moved, the more her muscles seemed to voice their protest at being left too long in the wrong angle. By the time she was standing, she felt every part of her body ache. She frowned. _What happened yesterday_ , she wondered.

In the corner of her eye, she caught a movement of some type. She looked to see Cat Noir try to move, but only a grumble and groan came out of the wet cat. She shook her head silently. She felt for her yo-yo, but it was not at her purse. She looked frantically for it, until she laid eyes upon it on the ground.

 _Huh, don't remember leaving it there. In fact, I don't really remember much of last night_ , she worried. She tried climbing down, and ended up slipping twice. There was a considerable amount of moss-like substance on the tree, which was odd. Nothing like this existed in Paris. Sure, they were a bit out of the city of Paris, but still didn't warrant for this type of flora. Lady Bug caught her yo-yo and climbed back up to the tree until she reached the top of the tree and observed her surroundings. She looked over the treetops and found the scenery puzzling. It was not Paris, but some tropical jungle. She had no idea why they were there.

"What happened? Milady? Are you here?" asked a very tired kitty.

"Yeah, just looking at the view, Cat Noir. Do you know we are not in Paris anymore? Maybe not even France."

"Mmmm..., he grumbled until his eyes popped out and asked, "What?!"

"Yeah, nothing in France has this temperature or view. We're in a tropical forest of some kind."

"How? Just a moment ago we were in a mini forest just outside of Paris. How did we end up here? I may not recall much of last night, but I would certainly remember if I was in some plane of some sort." Cat Noir asked in a worried tone, and occasionally groaning with the pops of his muscles.

"I don't know. But we have to find a way out of here. Also, our Kwamis will need to energize back. Soon we'll lose our abilities. So, we might look into a place with food first." She decided. She looked at Cat Noir to gauge his reaction. He was panting heavily from trying to do what she did before, stand up.

"Alright. Lead the way, milady." was the resigned response.

Lady Bug and Cat Noir walked through the forest until they found huts belonging to some tribe. Oddly enough, they understood what the heroes of Paris needed and provided with much kindness. After shifting back separately and feeding each of their Kwamis and themselves, they were full on energy. They asked the tribe leader to help them find a way back to a big city so they could go back home. The elder of that tribe pointed the directions. When that proved confusing for the two, he used a stick to draw the directions on the soiled ground. That proved to be a more successful explanation.

When arriving at a big city, they were able to go to an airport and fly back to Paris, odd as that experience was. After returning, they met face-to-face with someone they did not feel like meeting again. The guardian. His expression was none other than anger itself. Cat Noir and Lady Bug looked at each other uneasily and sighed heavily. This was obviously something they did not care to deal with yet, but since he was there, it could not be put off.

"You both know why I am here, right?" he asked in a gruff voice.

"Yes, guardian." They answered in unison.

~Cat Noir~

He kept his head down as he followed Lady Bug and the guardian. He thought back to the first time he met the guardian, the short and old Chinese man. Little did he know when he helped the man that his life would change.

 _"Lady Bug, why are we here? Is this a date?" Cat Noir asked her with wagging eyebrows._

 _"No, I need you to meet someone important. He knows more of our miraculouses than we do and can help us harness our powers."_

 _"Who's he? And I thought we harnessed our powers well."_

 _"Yes, we have, but enough to face what is coming." She replied sadly. She led Cat Noir to a room where its very design was very ancient like, where secrets were definitely hidden._

 _He looked around in awe._ _So many golden designs in spirals and delicate strokes_ _, he thought to himself. Until his eyes fastened to this short old man that seemed to genuinely be happy to be in his presence. It took him a while before he realized this was the old man he helped on his first day of school. His breath caught in his throat, as he hurried to find something to say._

 _"Hello Cat Noir. Glad to see you made it. It's been a while since our last meeting. Hope all is well with you." spoke the guardian._

 _"Y-yes, all is well with me. Thank you sir. How about yourself?"_

 _He simply chuckled. Then a flash of green swirled around him and landed on his shoulder. It was a Kwami. He seemed to look like a miniature of a turtle. "I am Master Fu and this is my Kwami Wayzz." He introduced._

 _"I am Cat Noir and my Kwami is Plagg, which you might already know since you know my identity." He ended with a suspicious frown and squinting of his eyes at the older man._

 _"Yesss, I understand your being wary young man. I would do the same in your position. However, I did not reunite both of you for chitchat I'm afraid. Something is stirring out there, and its not Hawk Moth, someone far stronger than he. Wish I knew who, but there is no indication yet."_

 _"How do you know there is something wrong? What is telling you about it?" Lady Bug asked, keeping an eye on the suspicious kitty on her right._

 _"The balance of the world is not balanced. You do not reach my age and meditate as much as I do and not realize when the balance is disturbed. Dark forces are arising. Also, something is coming upon Hawk Moth. I do not know if this will help us or not in defeating him."_

 _"So you're basically a telepath that can only predict things, but with no specification."_

 _One side of the guardian's face twitched in anger as he struggled to maintain calm, else should he strike the boy for the offensive comment. He took a deep breath and looked at Cat Noir and spoke while looking at his eyes. "No, that is incorrect. I am the guardian, so it is my job to watch out for heroes, especially if there is unknown danger coming towards us. It is like possessing an antenna for any unbalance that may occur, but not by human hand, but rather evil presence."_

 _The young heroes looked at each other, starting to feel the fear within them. They looked back at the guardian and listened to what else he had to say. They left his home and went back to Paris nervous of what the future held for them._

"Cat Noir! Cat Noir! Stop daydreaming!" yelled Lady Bug.

Car Noir shook his head and looked up to meet Lady Bug's dazzling eyes. He smiled goofily. Then he caught the glare of the guardian and instantly seemed to sober up from his affection for Lady Bug. His body contracted like a scolded kitten and entered once more the threshold that belonged to the guardian with his partner.

"I know that something peculiar happened to both of you, as there have been odd reports of storms and rains all around Paris. I was able to delay the akumatized victim until you, Lady Bug, can 'de-evilize' the akuma. Yet, I fear that what sent you away, was the same person that seems to have more power than Hawk Moth himself. I am not sure if he realizes this individual's presence." He mentioned while scratching his head.

"What do we do, guardian?" Lady Bug asked in a grave tone.

"Keep on saving Paris. But beware the shadows. It is through shadows which one of your most formidable foes will emerge." he warned gravelly. He looked at the two heroes and hoped the arrival of another foe did not mean the end of them. He worried about what else he must do to save them.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Possibilities…

~Marinette~

 _Walking back to school doesn't make it easy_ , thought Marinette. She sighed heavily as she climbed the stairs to her classroom. Her heart did a little flip when she caught sight of Adrien. Then she looked at Alya, and her friend gave her a knowing smirk. Shaking her head, she made her way to her seat. Class began and all seemed well for the first couple of hours of the day. Things seemed to fall back into routine since her last adventure with Cat Noir.

When classes ended, there was a huge mass of dark clouds approaching the school. Marinette gave it one guess: Rainey! Soon enough, said person arrived with her violent rain pouring down on everyone close to her. There was an old woman across from her school and she was struggling to stand, but it was obvious the rain was wearing her down. Seemed like it was beating her down with a thousand punches. When the woman finally cried out and started to fall, Marinette had enough.

"Tikki, spots on!" and like that she transformed into Lady Bug. Swiftly, she reached the old woman in time and helped her to a safe place away from the rain.

"Lady Bug, give me your miraculous and I'll stop this rain!" threatened Rainey.

Lady Bug looked towards her and her temper flared. Before she did something she would regret, Cat Noir appeared by her side and put a hand on her shoulder. "Ease up, milady. You know how Hawk Moth motivates his lackeys."

"I know, it's just hard. What if she's doing this to children or people that aren't strong? Its too cruel." She mumbled.

"I know. Which is why we need to defeat her. Any plans milady?"

"Hmm…follow my lead." and off she went with her yo-yo, Cat Noir not far behind.

She swept past Rainey and made some zigzag motions with her yo-yo. When Rainey went for Lady Bug, Cat Noir made his staff go long and threw it low just when she took her third step and fell. As she fell, the zigzag patterns of the yo-yo trapped her momentarily. However, Rainey seemed to become a puddle of water and escaped the trap. "Oookay…" Cat Noir spoke with wide eyes. Suddenly a gush of water descended upon them and made Cat Noir a very wet kitty.

"Not. A. Word." He muttered.

"If you say so, kitty." Lady Bug responded with a smirk. She looked at the form of the akumatized Nathalie become human-like again. So she rolled her yo-yo upwards and spoke, "Lucky Charm!"

Magic swirled around her yo-yo and produced a big glass jar. She put it on the floor and knew exactly what to do. All she had to do was look at Cat Noir, and he knew also what to do this time. He swiveled towards Rainey and said; "Cataclysm!" and darkness surrounded his sharp claws as he swiped it on the floor making it shatter into a thousand pieces.

Rainey stepped backwards and tripped. Lady Bug made a type of net with her yo-yo and caught her just in time. However, when she melted, Lady Bug used the jar to capture her liquid form. The only thing that wasn't in that jar was the little doll she kept holding all the time. It was a rain doll, which supposedly made rain fall down. Lady Bug stepped on it and the dark butterfly emerged from it.

She made a gesture on her yo-yo and swung it around as it glowed white. She caught the akuma and swiveled it. "No more evil doing for you little akuma! Time to de-evilize!" with that, the akuma was de-evilized. "Good-bye little butterfly!" she waved at the butterfly as it fluttered away into the clear sky. She looked at the jar to the woman it formed inside and spoke, "Miraculous Lady Bug!" and magic spread throughout all the places that were damaged by Rainey. Soon, Rainey became Nathalie again. She was sitting on the floor holding the rain doll close to her with a sad expression.

After Lady Bug pounded her fist with Cat Noir, she went over to Nathalie and asked her what was wrong. Cat Noir joined them. Nathalie looked at them and sighed heavily, "The days seem longer than they actually are. I yearn for the day in which my boss and his son rejoice and become a real family. I know what it means to lose a family and I wouldn't want anyone to experience that pain."

"I wish I could say I understand what you're feeling. I cannot imagine that type of pain, and hope never to experience it. Have you thought of sitting both together and talk to them about it? Or maybe just lock them together in a place where they would have no way to escape for a while and would eventually force them to talk to each other about their issues as a family." Lady Bug suggested. She smiled gently and sympathetically to Nathalie.

"Actually, that might be a good idea." Nathalie looked up surprised, while Cat Noir winced internally.

"I'm sorry you experienced that type of pain and truly wish you good luck! I've got to go! Bug out!" she was gone in a matter of seconds, swinging her yo-yo from building to building.

~Adrien~

Cat Noir grinned awkwardly at Nathalie. A beep in his ring told him he had to leave. "I have to go as well. Good luck and have a good day!" he told her as he used his staff to leave the scene before he transformed back to Adrien. When he did, in a secluded part of a park, he looked back and sighed heavily.

 _I had no idea Nathalie lost her family, nor that she felt strongly about me and my dad_ , thought Adrien. He wandered a bit before he asked his driver to pick him up. When he arrived at his home, he met with Nathalie. She looked just like she always did, professional and cold. However, he saw the rain doll hang from her belt.

"Nathalie, what is that doll?" he asked innocently.

Surprised, Nathalie looked at her doll wide eyed and answered, "It's a rain doll. I made it when I was a child."

"Why am I only seeing you with it now? I never noticed it before."

"Well, I only use it during these times." she mentioned uncomfortably.

"What do you mean?"

"The days my parents died. I use these days because when I was younger, I would make these, sometimes with my family. They always made me feel safe, and they still do. That's why I use them this week." she explained, a little red on the cheeks.

"I'm sorry about that. My condolences."

"No worries, Adrien. If you'll excuse me." She bowed slightly and left to see his father.

Adrien looked at her until she left his sight and sighed. _I hope she's all right_ , he thought to himself. He went to his room and thought on the last couple of days. His mind seemed to revert back to Lady Bug and how awesome she was. He wondered if one day he should confess to her, however, he doubted that she would ever like the clumsy Cat Noir, much less him. The pretty boy locked in the ivory castle by his father and always obedient to his father's bidding. He sat down on his bed and hung his head low. Plagg came out from his sweater and faced him.

"What's wrong Adrien? Why so down?"

"Do you think Lady Bug likes me? Or could ever like me?" he looked up at him.

"Hmm, hard to say. That girl doesn't seem to fall for your charms, but she doesn't say she hates you or anything." was the vague response.

"Gee, thanks. Like I haven't thought of that."

"Hmm, how about Marinette? She seems to like you, even though she completely disliked you at first." Plagg ended with a mischievous laugh.

"Marinette is a friend. I don't see her as more than that." Adrien responded.

"Are you sure? Both of you seem to get along well and your best friends are dating each other. It would be a nice couple of couples."

"I'm sure." He responded with a slight blush on his cheeks as he wondered about Marinette. She was also someone he looked up to, a great and loyal friend. Yet he looked back and tried to see her as someone he could be more than friends with like Lady Bug.

"Hey, do you think it's far fetched to think Marinette might be Lady Bug?" he asked his secretive friend.

Plagg twirled in front of him and responded, "I think you look fine. Now, how about that Camembert?" he smiled sweetly, showing off his sharp teeth.

"Ok, ok. I'll get it for you." replied Adrien as he shook his head and headed to the kitchen to get his Camembert. At that moment, he also discarded the possibility of Marinette being Lady Bug. They were similar, yet different somehow. One thing Adrien was sure, both changed his life when he started going to school.


End file.
